Mazembe drub glorifies Yanga

YOUNG Africans coach Nasreddine Nabi hailed his charges for sticking to the game plan whereas TP Mazembe trainer Pamphile Kazembe conceded the big upset, vowing to return stronger.

Yanga produced a massive performance to outclass Mazembe 3-1 in a sparkling CAF Confederation Cup’s group D match at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam over the weekend.

Aside from generating important 3 points, they finished the game 18m/- richer as they claimed 15m/- courtesy of president Samia Suluhu Hassan’s pledge to buy each goal for 5m/- while Dar es Salaam’s Regional Commissioner Amosi Makala awarded them a 3m/-cash prize.

It was the first time for TP Mazembe to suffer defeat on Tanzania soil hence Nabi’s brigade has gone into record books for achieving that feat.

“My players worked hard than during the first game against US Monastir which we lost 2-0. They followed the game plan we arranged to win the game by beating a big club.

“Our group is very difficult because no team is point-less and I always encourage my players to always make the right decisions whenever they are on the pitch and they did that in today’s (Sunday) game,” he said.

Again, the Tunisian trainer revealed that Simba’s 3-0 defeat to Raja Casablanca in CAF Champions League was a driving force for their worthy victory as they both represent the country on the international scene.

He also said after their US Monastir defeat, people criticised them a lot hence it made the team’s technical panel sit down and create a winning plan to prove such people wrong.

On his part, Kazembe accepted the downfall saying Yanga were much better in the first half no wonder they excelled to generate two quick goals.

“In the second half, we came refreshed and managed to score one goal, but we committed a mistake which was later capitalised by our opponents to score their third goal.

“I think after losing their first match, they regrouped that is why they were aggressive in today’s match…but we still have many games to play and we are going to come back stronger,” he said.

In their next game, Mazembe host group D leaders US Monastir for yet another thrilling fixture of the campaign while Yanga travel to Mali to face the bottom- placed De Bamako.